


A bet not worth winning

by Menthe



Series: The gamins' bet [2]
Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types, Les Misérables - Schönberg/Boublil, Les Misérables - Victor Hugo
Genre: Angst, Angst and Feels, Awkward Romance, Identity Issues, M/M, Madeleine Era, POV Alternating, Period-Typical Homophobia, Religion, Sexual Tension, Slow Burn, Slow Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-29
Updated: 2018-12-29
Packaged: 2019-09-28 15:48:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17185883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Menthe/pseuds/Menthe
Summary: Monsieur Madeleine never payed attention to rumors, that spread in the small town of Montreuil-sur-Mer. Also, he never payed attention to Inspector Javert, who had the unfortunate habit of following him. Yet, a curious bet, made by the older gamins of M sur M forces him to rethink both.





	A bet not worth winning

**Author's Note:**

> This is the second part of The gamins' bet series. The first part is only slightly referenced. I am not sure how often I can update it, because life is busy right now, but I try my best. Hope you enjoy it! :)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> December, 1822. M. Madeleine and Inspector Javert help a lost child to find her way home.

The evening came with a black and blue sky, a blend of darkness and a seemingly sourceless glow. It wasn’t even five o’clock in the afternoon and Inspector Javert, stepping out the stationhouse door looked up in confusion. He couldn't tell, if clouds were covering the sky or it was already nightfall. Both, he decided, pulling his hat onto his forehead,  before he started his evening patrol with firm steps. His face was covered in shadows, as he walked the darkening streets, his heels knocking on the icy cobblestones. Anybody would have avoided the big poodles of ice littering  the ground, but not Javert. He walked straight across them, without changing pace or even taking notice. The gamins of Montreuil-sur-Mer once made a bet how long, until he slipped. Everybody lost. Inspector Javert never slipped once.  
The gamins made lot's of bets to pass the time and to relieve each other  from  a coin  or  two. Some of the bets were fairly innocent, others more risque. But their most curious bet was one, that the adults would have disapproved if ever heard of it, and the younger children did not understand. They were laughing, shoving each other in the shoulder, some of them spat on the ground in amusement, when made it. They were in high spirit for sure.  
Now, this curious bet went something like this: why is Inspector Javert following Monsieur Madeleine like a shadow? All of the gamins agreed, that there was indeed a secret  behind  the Inspector's pursuit  of the Maire, but on the nature of the secret they could not agree. After much  argument -and  laughing-they split into two parties.

“He wants to arrest him” shouted Michael ”the copper is onto something, I tell ya”

“Maybe he  is  onto  something, but maybe… he is into something!” said Pierre “I bet ya, he wants to kiss him!”

Laughter broke out among the small group of gamins.

 “He looks like he would” laughed one of the older boys.

„ If he could!„ shouted the loudest one.

„ Did you see the look on his face, when Pere Madeleine lifted that cart? That was some sight!”

„And the ribbon in his hair...”

A small hand pulled on Pierre’s coat.

„I want a ribbon like that”  said little Marie who didn’t understand anything that was said between her brother and his loud friends. Why would the scary and mean looking Inspector kiss the nice Pere Madeleine? It made no sense to her, so she latched onto the only thing she understood from the conversation: said ribbon. “I want a ribbon” she repeated, because she didn't know what else to say.  
„ Oh shut up Marie” her brother, Pierre pushed on her shoulders “ get lost. Go and play with the girls, the men are talking here.”  
Little Marie in her too big shoes, that was originally her brothers walked slowly. She didn’t like to play with the other girls. Last time they laughed at her ragged coat, despite the fact, that their coat was in no better state than Marie’s.

„ I bet he wants to kiss him”  she heard Pierre’s voice from behind as she walked away.

She had to sidestep the rushing adults, who were towering above her. With the evening passing, the town became darker and colder, still, she didn’t want to go home. It was a few days until christmas, and the street vendors were selling their goods on the main square, standing behind the heavily packed and decorated wooden stalls. Marie wandered aimlessly for a while. She watched how the vendors were offering their merchandise with shouts and little rhymes. There was everything that Marie could imagine. Dried herbs, with the scent of the meadows, small cushions filled with lavender, big, round cheeses, dried fruit and the best of it all, gingerbread hearts decorated with delicate, white icing. She had no money and no intention to buy anything, so she was easily pushed away by the customers, who were swirling around the stalls, looking for presents for christmas eve.

Then she smelled something nice, something almost sweet. She followed her nose and found a great cauldron, cooking over the fire. A chubby, red faced women stood behind it, putting handful of chestnuts into the cauldron. Marie  stood close to the fire, to warm up her freezing hands.

“ Are you lost, my child? “ she heard a deep voice above her. She looked up, and saw the familiar face of Pere Madeleine, looking at her, worried.

***

 

Madeleine with his kind, but serious half smile was giving out sweets and coins to the children, as he did almost every day. His gentle smile faded though, as he saw a little girl standing next to a big cauldron, trying to stay warm by the fire. She looked so lost and sad, he had no choice, but to help her. He bought some roasted chestnuts for her and accepted another packet from the vendor, as a gift. “Merry Christmas, Pere Madeleine” said the vendor and laughed jovially.  Madeleine  took Marie's hand and they started to walk. The child cheered up by the chestnuts, chatted about all the wonders she saw that day, all the wreaths with red and gold ribbons on the doors, the vax candles in the windows, the ladies in their fine garments. Madeleine payed half attention to the childish babble, trying to figure out, how to find the little girl’s parents, until she said the most curious thing. Then Madeleine listened.  
Apparently she was afraid, that the scary Inspector Javert was going to kiss Pere Madeleine.

“ What on earth?” That was the only thing that Madeleine could say for the moment. Did the child misheard arrest for kiss? That seemed to be the only logical explanation. Javert was a pair of pale eyes constantly scrutinizing him, on the street, in the maire's office as he gave his reports, at the dried up docks, where Madeleine gave alms to the homeless. Maybe Javert thought, that his scrutinizing gaze went unnoticed, but Madeleine was very aware of it.  
“ There he is”  the little girl whispered almost inaudible, gesturing toward one of the buildings surrounding the main square. Madeleine turned and saw him instantly, the formidable stature of Javert hiding in the shadows of the buildings. Javert accidentally caught his gaze and nodded towards him. There was no way back now, he had to talk with the man. With quiet determination he walked up to the Inspector. He had some chestnuts to offer him and that had to be a good enough excuse for now. Javert was polite, as always. He bowed with such a straight back, that almost seemed anatomically impossible. From up close he made quite a gloomy sight with his lips pressed in one tight line, brows furrowed so hard, that wrinkles appeared between his pale blue eyes. His whiskers were ferocious, but his dark grey hair was pulled back in it’s usual queue, neatly.

“ Inspector. Can I have a moment of your time? “  he asked, although he had no idea what to say.

“At your service Monsieur.”  
  
Madeleine was desperately searching for words and the longer the silence stretched between them, the more uncomfortable it became. The chestnuts came to his help.  
  
“ Would you care for a chestnut?”  
  
Javert was looking straight into his face, but did not answer. He stood still and silent, like a statue. Madeleine was perplexed by this silence. Was the Inspector offended? No, he didn’t seem to be the kind of man, who could be easily offended.

“ Do you dislike chestnuts?”

Javert looked at him without any sign of understanding.

“Pardon?”  

“ Do you dislike chestnuts?”

The Inspector finally held out his hand and accepted the chestnuts. Madeleine breathed in relief.

“ First apples, now chestnuts”  he said slowly.

“Pardon?” asked Madeleine, then he remembered ”ahh, yes, well, seasons have changed.”

“But not you, Monsieur.”  
  
Madeleine couldn’t help,  but laugh. What a strange, honest man this Javert was!  But still, he had to be careful around an officer of the law and careful with rumors. There are  rumors that have the power to utterly destroy a person’s life. Although he was sure, that the little girl misunderstood what the gamins had been saying, still it had to do something with Javert and him. And anything that involved him and the Inspector at the same time was alarming. He needed to know a bit more than this, only he didn’t know what to say. How could one start a conversation with Javert? How could one start a conversation with anybody for that matter? Madeleine  was never the first talking. He looked at the chestnut in his hand, but this time it didn’t help. He heard the children singing behind him. “ Sur le Pont d'Avignon”  they sang and played a game with their hands. They were clearly waiting for him, so he turned to them, giving out the remaining chestnuts and coins from his pockets.  
  
“ Bonne nuit les petites” he told them "You better go home now. It’s already dark.”  
  
This reminded him of little Marie, who was still standing beside him, waiting patiently.  
  
“ And you, my child, we should get you home too.”  
  
The little girl frowned. Tears slowly welled up in her eyes.  
  
“ I don’t know the way home… and my brother went to his friends.”  
  
Ah, those friends who made that ridiculous bet. Or was it ridiculous? He turned to Javert again. The man was still standing there motionless, clutching the small paper package, containing the chestnuts. The man's face was flustered from the cold, his expression still unreadable. He was looking up, observing the clouds. Madeleine spoke to the child again.  
  
“ Then I shall accompany you. What street are you living in? “  
  
“ Rue du Moulin”  the answer surprisingly came from Javert. Madeleine stood dumbfounded.  
  
“ Inspector, do you know where everybody lives in this town?”  
  
Javert moved one step closer.  
  
“Mostly those, who had issues with the law.”

“So almost everybody” Madeleine said.

“Yes.”  
  
Madeleine couldn’t decide if he was amazed or chilled by this fact. Most likely both at the same time.  
  
“ I am going to escort you, Monsieur l’Maire. That street is on the outskirt of the town and to say, it’s not the safest of places would be an understatement.”  
  
It wasn’t an offer, but a statement. Either way, Madeleine nodded in acceptance. They stopped by the station house, where Javert fetched his police lantern. The sky now was fully dark, and there weren’t any street lanterns on the outskirts. They walked silently, Javert leading the way with the lantern held high, and Madeleine followed him one step behind, holding little Marie’s hand.

***

There weren’t any great distances in the small town of Montreuil-sur-Mer. Marie's home was in the outskirts, and still it was only half an hour walk from the main square. Marie was already tired, so Madeleine picked her up and carried her in his arms. He prayed that she wouldn’t mention the gamin's bet. He found it was better if he breaks the silence first.

“ So Inspector, do you have any plans for Christmas?”

“ I am on duty for the holidays, Monsieur.”

That wasn’t surprising at all.

“ And you, Monsieur? Are you going to spend the holidays giving out alms again?”

“ Well, yes, there are still those in need. Always were, always will be.”

“Ohh.”

Madeleine looked at Javert in confusion, but Javert wasn't talking to him. He was looking at the sky, holding the lantern high.

“ Damn" Javert breathed "it’s snowing.”

He was right. Soft, white snowflakes were falling and melting in the heat of the lantern, on Javert's face, in his hair, on his shoulders.

“ Just a few steps from here, anyway” he said and finally averted his eyes from the sky back to Madeleine. Then he looked at the child, sleeping in Madeleine's arms.

“They don’t respect you enough. The children, I mean.”

“And what do you mean by that?”

“How they address you. They call you Pere Madeleine, instead of Monsieur.”

“But Javert. That’s not a sign of disrespect, that’s a sign of trust.”

“Yes, children do seem to trust you, Monsieur. The toys you make, and give them, certainly had an effect on this matter as well.”

“Ah, certainly. Most of these children never had a toy in their life before. When I see them play, they remind me of my sister's… my sister. Do you have a family, Inspector?”

Javert snorted. He slightly lifted his chin and looked down at Madeleine, like he was just asked, if he could fly.

“ I am a policeman, Monsieur.”

“And I am very aware of that, Javert, but that doesn't answer my question.”

“Ohh, but it does Monsieur. For a policeman to have a wife, to have a family means disadvantage. It makes them worry for their life.”

“ Is it so bad, to worry about others?”

“About others? No, no, you are mistaken. I meant it makes a policeman worry about their own life.”

Madeleine shooked his head in confusion.

“ I don't understand you, Javert. Are you saying, you don't worry about your life?”

“That’s one conclusion. Yes.”

“ Well, you should be. You should be afraid for your life.”

“ You are waking up the whole neighbourhood Monsieur. I ask you to lower your voice.”

For a moment  Javert's gaze rested on Madeleine's face. It was nothing, but a blink of an eye, before Javert turned around on his heels, and looked at the dark street behind them.

“ Are you going to follow us straight to the doorstep? Stop messing around and come here already” he said to the darkness.

Did the man go mad? - worried Madeleine.

But at Javert's command a small figure stepped out of the shadows, into the light of the police lantern.

“ Why, Monsieur l'Inspecteur, I didn’t do nothin’ “

“ Well, then you have no reason to hide.”

Marie, who was so peacefully sleeping, was stirred up by the voices. Her face lit up as she recognised their follower.

“ Pierre, Pierre!" she shouted.

Madeleine with a sigh put her down to the ground. So this was that dirty-minded brother, who made that disrespectful bet. Soap in his mouth, that should teach the boy some courtesy. Gossiping about the good Inspector… But the good Inspector  already grabbed the stuttering gamin by the ear and now held it, like an evidence of a crime.

“ Leaving this child without supervision you didn't just put her in danger, but troubled Monsieur l’Maire.”

“I am sorry, sorry Inspector, wont ‘ appen again, I swear. But I told, I- I told he-her to stay with the other girls… A-and I looked for her everywhere by now…”

“ Save it to your father, I am sure he will have a word for you.”

“Javert.”

At Madeleine’s gentle voice Javert fell silent. As much as Madeleine didn't mind seeing the gamin in a bit of pain, still he couldn't bare to see the young boy fighting his tears in front of his sister.

“Javert. We should go. It’s getting rather late.”

Javert finally let go of the unlucky gamins ear, but still cursed silently into his cravat. Madeleine couldn’t quite understand what Javert was saying, but he heard some words that suspiciously sounded like “ kindness” , “ maddening” and “ devil”.

“Right” Javert said finally “ let’s go then.”

“ Please, Monsieur l'Inspector, we can get home by ourselves.

“Yes, you two managed to get home great, so far.”

Madeleine silently laughed, but his mood deflated as soon as he looked at the gamin’s desperate face.

“ Please, please Inspector, father will be angry, if he sees that you… I mean he will think, that I got into trouble and…”

“ You did get into trouble” Javert said flatly.

“Please” pleaded the boy.

Madeleine looked at the boy, then he looked at the stern expression on Javert’s face. He understood it very well. No, not Madeleine. It was Jean Valjean, who understood, that no matter the reason, nobody likes to hear the police knocking on their door, or seeing them standing on their doorstep. Police means trouble. Javert means trouble. Nobody wants to see Javert in their home and Jean Valjean perfectly understood why. He turned to the gamin.

“ Which one is your house ? “

The boy pointed towards the end of the street.

“ That one, Monsieur, with the ivy on the wall.”

Madeleine looked where the gamin showed him. A scanty little shack stood there, its walls overgrown with ivy. The windows were lit by weak candlelight, but overall the place was reeking with poverty. Ah, how much work he still had to do, in order to abolish poverty in this little town! But he was determined to do everything in his power to make Montreuil-sur-Mer a better place to live. Trying to compensate the dried up sea with a factory. Making black pearls with fire and glass, was this enough compared to everything that the sea could give? Only God will decide that. Even if he couldn't help on the bigger scale of things, even if his good will couldn't reach through the borders of this small town, maybe step by step he could start a better world. Or maybe not. Maybe it was enough to help those around him, and make life a bit easier, a little more worth of living day by day. He wasn't responsible for the country, or mankind, but he felt responsible for those whom he could reach. Didn't the bishop of Digne do the same? Helping those, who are in need, in the here and now.

The sound of a nervous huff woke him from his thoughts. Javert huffed, then shook his head, as if he was trying to get rid of an annoying bug, buzzing around his ears. Of course there were no bugs in the freezing cold.

“You may go”  he grunted towards the children.

The boy stood still and pale, holding little Marie’s hand.

“Are you deaf? Go home. And look after your sister.”

Madeleine smiled, as he watched the children walk toward their home, hand in hand.

“Thank you, Inspector”  he said, after the kids disappeared behind the door.

“For what, Monsieur?”  Javert asked.

Madeleine looked at him curiously.

“For letting the boy go.”

“Why wouldn’t I? He didn't commit any crime as far as I know.”

“Well yes…”  Madeleine cleared his throat uncomfortably. Would the Inspector know about the gossips this boy was spreading, he wouldn’t be this forgiving.

“Then, thank you for accompanying us.”

Now it was Javert's turn to clear his throat.

“It’s my job, Monsieur. Shall I escort you back to the mairie, or to your home?”

“Neither of them, Inspector. I am heading for the church.”

“For the evening mass?”

“That's right, Inspector. Are you attending as well?”

Javert half snorted, half chuckled. For Madeleine it sounded almost like a laugh.

“You forget, Monsieur, I am still on duty. I am not too sure if I can be off, until the morrow.”

“Is that so? Even, when your duty is over and you are not too tired... maybe you could make a visit to the silent mass, at six a’clock in the morning. I will be there, we will be there with the congregation, so maybe you could accompany us in our prayers? Waiting for the holy day together and pray in silence is the best refreshment for a tired mind, I found.”

For a little while Javert didn't say a word. He was walking silently beside Madeleine, his eyes cast down to the freshly fallen, undisturbed snow, front of his feet.

“Thank you for the invitation” he finally said “ I will see, if I can attend, but I can’t promise anything.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Every feedback is appreciated. :) 
> 
> The song, sang by the children is originated from the 15th century France.
> 
> Sur le Pont d'Avignon  
> L'on y danse, l'on y danse  
> Sur le Pont d'Avignon  
> L'on y danse tous en rond
> 
> On the bridge of Avignon  
> We’re all dancing, we’re all dancing  
> On the bridge of Avignon  
> We’re all dancing round and round


End file.
